white wizzard flying tigers

Released: 19 September 2011 Label: Earache Records

Since their big break in 2008, there has been much discussion about White Wizzard. Two EPs and two albums later, Los Angeles’ home grown rockers have brutally plugged us in to their fourth addition, Flying Tigers.  Before I start I would like to clarify this album was released in 2011; I don’t want to confuse people and make them think time machines exist!

For a metal band the opening song doesn’t have to be just a song, it has to be an establishing shot of their image and ego; they don’t want to appear like ‘wannabes’. Shoving the angsty, gut- wrenching, Fight to the Death first, is like a head on collision with a monster truck! Put it this way, if you have trouble waking up, set this song as your alarm tone and you’ll throw those matchsticks away! With the elasticated vocals bound with catchy, finger blistering riffs, the song just lives and breathe’s rock n roll energy through and through!

Next in line we get West L.A. Nights. Yes it’s still heavily involved in the rat race with Fight to the Death; however West L.A. Nights is much more ‘polished’. It still leaves the album ridden red raw but has a little more variety to it rather than just speed, speed, speed. Still their technical ability is just like a thunderous overture with room for no errors. Basically if you took this song to battle, it would swallow you whole!

Goodbye riot and welcome the ‘slow dance’ of the album. Now if you like the slower, epic highlights of 80’s rock, you’ll love Starchild. The name says it all for a start! It’s like Kingdom Come goes for drink with Iron Maiden, Winger and Def Leppard. Yes a random rat pack; but strangely enough it’s pretty damn hot! It’s one of those songs which needs instructions; only listen to in a dark room on your iPod. A walkman would probably sound even better but hey! It’s the slow, high pitched, ear eroding solo at the end that makes it! It may be the slowest on the album but it’s one of the best!

Enough of that and we are back in the fire with Flying Tigers. Back to the high pitched, lung tearing vocals and eclectic guitar riffs. Basically in this case all I’m gonna say is, it’s songs like these that make the album worthwhile buying!

Come Night Stalker White Wizzard have pretty much torn the skin off the album; if you want thrash, here’s your answer! To be frank it’s almost like the album is getting stuck. Yes they have shown us what they can do, but from a neutral point of view, if we hadn’t have had Starchild, their territory may have been a little limited. But by no means is the album over yet!

Demons and Diamonds looks down and spits on the rest of the album. The slow, lingering, nail biting intro is just cliff hanging to say the least! It stitches another patch into the album which by this point is kinda needed.  To be blunt, it’s very easily distinguished and is fair nifty to listen to. It hammers that final nail in to stop the album from falling down. It’s got a ‘stop rewind’ factor all over it!

One of the best parts of this album is the send-off song. Starman’s Son is just flashy! The vocals are phenomenal! I repeat phenomenal! It’s got that Bohemian Rhapsody appeal. You know, it’s one of those songs where if you were all sat round a table in a pub having a few bevvy’s with your mates and this song came on, there’d be that specific point where you'd all screw up your faces and start head-banging at the same time. It’s a ‘t-shirt worthy’ song! The perfect way to say goodbye!

Flying Tigers is not a bad album, but a little more injection of variety could have gone a long way. However they nailed it by slotting in the likes of Starchild, Demons and Diamonds and Flying Tigers; it shook up the bag. There’s no need for a hazardous sticker and I can’t see the album collecting dust on shop shelves. If you want a trip down memory lane, brush the dust off your leather jackets, squeeze into those uber tight ripped jeans, sod the time machine, just go down to your local record store and buy Flying Tigers; that should do the trick!

by Kathryn Longbottom